Natty Janes Leather Baby Shoe Pattern Release!

The history behind this baby shoe pattern dates back to one of my first solo sewing projects. I sewed a basic fabric crib shoe and, just like that, I was hooked on sewing. Baby shoes are still one of my favorite things to sew, because they require very little material, not much time, yet produce something useful and super adorable.

The few pairs I sewed up for Project Run & Play actually got the ball rolling for this pattern. It feels great to finally realize this dream a year later!

My real inspiration and the pattern’s name sake is, of course, my daughter, Natalie Jane, who we affectionately call Nat or Natty.

Finding it hard to shop for shoes for Nat’s very petite toddler feet, I started sewing them instead, tweaking patterns, and finally creating my own pattern.

My goal in creating the Natty Janes Baby Shoe Pattern, is to give you a pattern that produces a professional looking, soft soled shoe that is durable, comfortable, and as cute or cuter than what you can find in stores. I want you to feel proud to give these shoes as a gift, or when your favorite little lady wears them.

As a bonus, these shoes are also really affordable.

At $8 for the pattern, you can make a whole collection of shoes for less than you can buy at the store!

Whether you prefer soft leather shoes for your baby, or you don’t like the selection available in stores, this is the pattern for you.

Got a baby shower coming up? These shoes are the perfect go to gift!

Let’s talk pattern details, shall we?

-This is a a 30 page PDF pattern, which you can purchase through Paypal by clicking here:

After payment is processed, you will automatically receive an email from E-junkie with a link in it (check the email address associated with your PayPal account ). Click on that link and download the file. Please note that you have up to five attempts before the link expires.

STYLES

This pattern offers two styles, and a total of eight different variations.

PRINTING

Because the shoes are so small, printing is minimal. You only need to print 1-2 pattern pages depending on the size you choose to sew, with a total of six pages for the all sizes, and there is no pattern piecing! Woohoo!

The pattern pieces are sized so that it will print correctly on both U.S. letter paper and A4 paper. However, always check to make sure it printed correctly by measuring the 1 inch test square on each page.

SIZING

SIZE

FOOT LENGTH

*SIZE BY AGE

1

3.5-3.75″

0-3 mo.

2

4 “

3-6 mo.

3

4.5″

6-9 mo.

4

5″

12 mo.

5

5 1/2″

18 mo.

The shoes are listed in commercial shoes sizes. I have included a commercial standard recommended age for each size for those who want to give these shoes as gifts.This is not, however, the most ideal way to determine shoe size. For example, my 20 month old daughter wears a size 3 or 6-9 month shoe. If at all possible, measure the recipient’s foot length from toe to heel.

Materials

Leather, pleather, vinyl, and felt. There are no grain lines to worry about, or fraying. High five! 🙂

You also need a leather needle and all-purpose thread (regular thread).

*Everything is also sewn on a regular sewing machine!

Not sure where to get leather and pleather? Hit up your thrift shop to seek out recycled leather from old purses and jackets. I also have an awesome leather hide giveaway coming up for you next week!!! Stay tuned for that.

SKILL LEVEL

Advanced Beginner to Intermediate

Don’t let the small size of this project fool you. This pattern requires you to work with finicky materials such as leather, to use small seam allowances, and to sew some difficult curves. It takes patience and careful sewing, but the end result is well worth it.

If you are a beginner and still feel up to tackling this pattern, I suggest you sew at least one practice pair with just felt, if not more. This will help you get the feel for how to sew the shoes, without the fussiness of having to sew with leather quite yet. With a lot of patience, a willing attitude, and the right supplies (i.e. clamps or clips and a leather needle – you can read more about it in the pattern) you can certainly conquer a pattern like this as a beginner.

Time Investment

Depending on the material you choose and how many baby shoes you have made before, this project can take anywhere from under an hour to over three hours. But, don’t rush! You want to take your time with the details, in order to get a truly beautiful pair of shoes. 🙂 The more you make the easier and faster it gets.

I designed the shoes to have a slight rise in the back as well as some well placed straps to help keep the shoes on your baby’s feet.

Well…for the most part. 😉

Thank you for allowing me to share my first solo pattern with you!

Have a great weekend!

Sources: The gray flutter sleeve dress and the yellow dress in this post are from Made By Rae’s Gernanium Pattern. The gray, long sleeved shift dress is from this post HERE. The purple leather suede is from Michael Levine and the glitter elastic used on the same shoe is from The Ribbon Retreat . The other shoes are made from recycled purse and jacket scraps. The yellow shoe’s upper is made from yellow vinyl from Jo-Ann, and the tan accents on the silver ankle strap Natty Janes are made from car upholstery vinyl found in the red tag section in Jo-Ann.

SWEET SHOES for little girls…. darling styles and variations too! You have created a UNIQUE pattern — I wish you receive thousands of orders on this new endeavor. Look so soft & comfy to wear. I LOVE the colors of shoes & accents. Where do you purchase leather? BRAVO! Sarah Helene in Minneapolis

I fell in love with those adorable little shoes you made for Project Run and Play. They’re seriously the cutest, most perfect baby girl shoes. Ever. It’s so exciting that you’ve come out with a pattern for them!!

Those are crazy cute! I want to make my baby girl a whole bunch. Unfortionately my 16 month old is in a shoe size 7… Please say you will have bigger sizes too? Anyway, super cute! I might get them anyway for babyshower gifts 😉 love the pattern!

I am so sorry! I limited the sizes to 1-5 because it is a soft soled shoe and it seems that those smaller sizes get the shaft in the variety department. You can certainly try grading the pattern up yourself, using your daughter’s existing shoes as a guide. I recommend making felt muslins until you get the sizing and fit just right.

Such a cute pattern! I will customize it for my son, which I think will work really well, if you chose the right colors. And pretty pleeeaaaase, think about bigger sizes, will you? I think it would make perfect slippers! I always need them for Preschool/Kindergarten, and the selection in stores is just horrible …

Congrats!!! These are super adorable and our style!! My baby girl just got into a size 5 :-(!!! So i guess we have to try for another one soon so i can make dozens of these. I hate going downtown LA but i may have to go for that purple suede!!
Did you bribe Natalie with suckers? I usually use chocolate chips but the suckers are a good idea.

I have checked your sight at least 10 times a day for the last several days waiting on this! You inspired me to make baby shoes with your first post a while back but the backs are always to short and my little pumpkin has really small feet! So nothing ever fit perfect! I am so excited to try these out, I will be printing out the pattern tonight and whipping up a pair! I have been buying my leather through Etsy. I get an 8 x 10 panel for $2.

P.S. love your blog when I started sewing again back in the summer I am so glad I found you because I have repeated every tutorial you have done!

I so want this pattern for my lil girl! Will save me money from buying shoes from the store. Question, do I need a sewing machine or can I hand stitch these? I’m not sure if my machine can handle leather. 😐

Such beautiful shoes! I have actually been meaning to buy the shoe pattern from bellasymphony after seeing your Project Run and Play posts. Would you say your pattern is similar and offers more variations that it may be better to purchase just your pattern vice yours AND the one from bellasymphony?

Thanks! I think it comes down to what you’re looking for. The bellasymphony shoe is a fabric shoe and this one is leather and offers the ankle strap variation.

Just in case anyone else is wondering :)…The shape of this upper and sole is different, as well as the straps. The construction is almost completely different as well. It’s hard to tell now, but when you see the pieces you can see the difference. When I used bellasymphony’s pattern during Project Run and Play, I heavily altered them to get something more like this pattern I created. So, if you are looking more along the lines of what I made, this is the pattern you want. When I created this pattern, I changed it even more, and improved the construction from my previous alterations to give a cleaner look.

If you want a fabric shoe more like the one shown in bellasymphony’s etsy listing. I would definitely give that one a try. She has a great pattern. 🙂

Thank you, I am so glad I asked! I purchased your pattern and it is my favorite pattern by far. It’s not at all confusing and I love all the variations. Thanks so much for sharing your talent and I hope you get to work on more patterns from now on. I’ll buy them all, I’m sure! 🙂

My Teflon presser foot arrived and I’m chomping at the bit to tackle these, even though the largest size is probably too small. Add me to the chorus pleading for larger sizes! Some of us don’t have ready access to the ones we want to make them for..

Thanks Jasmine! These are sewn with a regular sewing machine and a leather needle (you can buy them at any sewing supply store). You have to make sure you are using leather that is not too thick or stiff. If you upcycle a leather jacket or skirt it should be thin enough. I hope that helps!

I finally broke down and purchased the pattern, even though my daughter is already 16 mo old! I was wondering – is there any reason I couldn’t line the shoe with a cotton woven fabric instead of felt (thinking about using them in the spring/summer). Also, if using stretch elastic as the strap, did you just sew both ends to the shoe, and not use velcro? Thank you!

You totally could! The raw edge still comes through around the sole, so you may have some fraying if you use a woven cotton. You could trim the seam allowance down and sew on a small strip of bias tape to limit that if you want? For the stretch elastic, I think either way would work. I sewed my glitter elastic into both sides at the sole seams though. I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions!

hej delia,
these are too beautiful!
unfortunately my kids are past those shoe sizey, do you think it works to resize the pattern whilst printing?
or do you have other ideas as to how to change the sizes?
tha!!!
annabanana

Thank you! You can try elongating the sole and the upper pieces a bit. Maybe try making a muslin with felt first. It doesn’t work to just enlarge the printed copy because feet grow long more than wide as they get bigger.

Good question. I use a range of thicknesses and it can vary from leather piece to leather piece. In general, I like to use a 5 ounce/ 2 mm thick leather, but if it’s softer and suede like, I can get away with a much thicker leather just for the sole. I use a home sewing machine, so I want to make sure my machine can handle it and I don’t want it so thick that the seams are too bulky.

I almost always use two different leathers for the upper and the sole. For the upper you can go as thin as 1 ounce. I’ve even used sewing apparel pleather for the upper. It’s much more challenging to work with, but it works as long as you have a nice quality felt to line it with. You just want to make sure you don’t go too thick on the upper.

So…short answer, as thin as you want with the upper, and as thick as you can stand with the sole. 🙂

Hey Delia,
Thank you for this GREAT pattern. I have made a pair of my niece, and now my daughter is old enough to fit into one of these pairs. My question is what kind of snaps did you use to make the holes for the shoes above? I have a leather punch,but I don’t know the name of those open ended snaps that line the hole to keep the leather from fraying. Also, what type of closure did you use on the yellow pair that have the holes so the ankle portion is adjustable? Thanks for your help.

Thanks Jessica! Great questions. So, the holes in the yellow pair are just decorative. If you want an adjustable ankle strap, I recommend using a metal button stud. It screws into the leather and you can make multiple holes for it.

The snaps I used for the yellow shoes are just some metal snaps you can get at Jo-Ann. I have also widened the straps and used heavy duty snaps (like ones for jackets) before and those work great too. Does that answer your questions?

Hi, I had some initial problems of skipped stitches on the straps which i have fixed by sewing VERY slowly. But now I am absolutely struggling with the top stitching on the top curve of the shoe (through two layers of felt and two layers of leather, once it’s stitched and folded over). My machine will not make stitches and it is as if the needle is not long enough. I have a really good machine, am using a leather needle and a running foot but nothing I do will allow me to do the top stitching. Thanks.

I’m sorry to hear that. That can sometimes happen if you are working with a particularly thick or tough leather. Have you tried using a walking foot? That can help. If you’ve had a few rough passes, I find that re-threading my machine sometimes does the trick as well. Another option could be to not put a leather tab over the back seam, and maybe use a piece of ribbon instead. There are so many variables with leather. I feel like some thicker leathers can still work, because they’re softer, while some thinner leathers are really stiff and hard to work with. It can really change how easily the shoe sews up. I hope that helps? Let me know if I can help further.

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[…] this pattern shopping spree I also came across the ADORABLE Natty Janes pattern by Delia Creates. I duly bought this beautiful pattern and sourced some super soft faux leather from this Etsy shop […]

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